From: Steve Holmer <wafcdc at americanlands.org>
Subject: LANDSCOPE: FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEE IN ALABAMA INDICTED FOR ILLEGAL TIMBER SALE
LANDSCOPE: News and Views from American Lands - December 13, 2000
FOREST SERVICE EMPLOYEE IN ALABAMA INDICTED FOR ILLEGAL TIMBER SALE
Forest Service employee John Stivers was indicted December 1 for
allowing the illegal removal of $285,000 worth of timber from the
Talladega National Forest in Alabama. The charges arose from an
investigation of National Forest timber sale contracts from 1995 to 1997
in the Shoal Creek Ranger District of the Talladega. Stivers was
responsible for overseeing timber sales in the Shoal Creek district and
if convicted, he could face 10 years in prison for the illegal tree
removal charge.
. . . Ray Vaughan, attorney for WildLaw, called the indictment "the
illegal tip of the iceberg of the gross mismanagement of Shoal Creek."
For more information contact Ray Vaughan: mailto:WildLaw at aol.com,
334/265-6529.
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO END PUBLIC LANDS GRAZING: One hundred
public lands advocates met November 28-29 in Reno, NV to discuss the
consequences of livestock grazing on public lands, and launch a national
campaign to end public lands grazing. The conference adopted a
declaration noting the importance to the nation of wild and biologically
diverse public lands, the adverse ecological and economic consequences
of livestock grazing throughout the West, and the potential for
restoring much of these lands if livestock are removed. A follow-up
grazing conference will be held in 2001. For more information contact
Larry Walker, mailto:lwalker at rangebiome.org, 503/646-5674.
LAWSUIT FILED TO LIMIT CATTLE GRAZING: Several Oregon conservation
groups have filed a lawsuit alleging the Department of Interior violated
the Taylor Grazing Act by failing to determine whether lands within BLM
grazing districts are "chiefly valuable " for livestock grazing. Such a
determination could find that many public lands are better suited for
other purposes and might lead to the removal of livestock. "Where
grazing occurs on lands that are valued for anything other than grazing,
such as native plants, fish and wildlife, water quality and quantity,
soil, and recreation, grazing threatens to injure the lands and these
values," says the lawsuit. For more information contact Gilly Lyons,
Oregon Natural Desert Association at mailto:glyons at onda.org
RESEARCH SHOWS NATURAL FLOODING BEST WAY TO RESTORE COTTONWOOD FORESTS:
New research has found that overbank flooding is the key ecological
process that allows native cottonwoods to out-compete invasive salt
cedar along western rivers and streams. The research, conducted by plan
ecologist Anna Sher as part of her doctoral dissertation at the
University of New Mexico, will appear in the December issue of
Conservation Biology. Forest Guardians and other conservationists have
long advocated for the return of overbank spring flooding to the Rio
Grande, Pecos, and other western rivers to create seedbeds for
cottonwoods and provide water for their successful establishment. For
more information contact John Horning, Forest Guardians,
mailto:jhorning at fguardians.org, 505/988-9126.